Bowl

Object Details

Kuba artist

Label Text

African potters--primarily women--handbuild a variety of vessels that they embellish with beautiful colors, designs and motifs before firing them at low temperatures. Containers made for daily use hold water or serve as cooking utensils. They also make vessels to be used in special ceremonies or that become part of an assemblage of objects placed in a shrine.

The encrusted material that disguises the deep diagonal incisions may have been applied deliberately to seal the vessel's pores for the purposes of cooking or they may be the result of disuse. When not in use, the bowl was hung by the fiber cord around its neck.

Description

Small dark colored bowl with metal tie. The body is heavily encrusted. The inside rim has deeply grooved incisions.

Provenance

Baron Lambert collection, Belgium, before 1920

Exhibition History

Purpose and Perfection: Pottery as a Woman's Art in Central Africa, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 15, 1992-June 15, 1997

Content Statement

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Image Requests

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Credit Line

Purchased with funds provided by the Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program

Early 20th century

Object number

89-13-69

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Type

Ceramics

Medium

Ceramic, encrustation, iron

Dimensions

H x W x D: 9.5 x 17.2 x 14.9 cm (3 3/4 x 6 3/4 x 5 7/8 in.)

Geography

Democratic Republic of the Congo

See more items in

National Museum of African Art Collection

National Museum of African Art

Topic

male

Record ID

nmafa_89-13-69

Metadata Usage (text)

Usage conditions apply

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys747ab74f6-7d34-47a7-bf7b-36b7eec7ed6e